Prevent Injury By Anchoring TV And Furniture To Wall

Earlier this week, Pali Design recalled several pieces of furniture. Restraint straps that anchor armoires and dressers to the wall can break, posing a risk of falling when curious kids play on the furniture. While the recall was relatively small — affecting 18,000 pieces of furniture in the US — it points to the larger issue of the importance of babyproofing your furniture.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) reports that unsecured TVs and large pieces of furniture kill a child every two weeks, and send a child to the hospital as frequently as every 24 minutes.

“The newer televisions, even though they are lighter, if they are not anchored properly they still have 2,000 pounds of pressure, and when you are talking about a little kid that is enormous,” CPSC commissioner Marietta Robinson tells Good Morning America.

To demonstrate the impact of that pressure on a child, GMA recruited the help of the Fordham University football team. Essentially, it's like being crushed by six players.

Experts deems these accidents 100 percent preventable. Wall anchors can be purchased at any hardware store, and are essential for making sure tall pieces of furniture stay upright against a wall. Robinson reminds parents to also secure TVs with a strap, or better yet, mount a flatscreen on the wall.